After the Lunar Flower
by Riasha
Summary: Cross,IY.WR Kagome, in the feudal era, has the complete jewel and fuses it together. Her friends have died to protect her. Now the jewel has decided to become one with its gaurdian,and it transports her into the future, where wolves are supposedly extinct
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi. To begin with right off the bat, this is a fanfic that Kagome somehow ends up in the Wolfs Rain setting. If that's not something you're interested in, feel free not to read this fanfic.

Next, I am writing this fanfic at work, so I hope to post a chapter on Thursday or Friday every week, but it might be every two weeks if work sucks too bad.

Okay, and now for the summary of what happened to lead up to this fanfic.

SUMMARY: Kagome and her friends in the feudal era have one half of the jewel, Naraku has the other half. As they fight for it, there are grievous injuries. Inuyasha manages to retrieve it and give it to Kagome to fuse together, and her friends are killed protecting her while she is in a trance fusing the jewel. The jewel fuses back into her body and transports her to a world where wolves have been thought extinct for 200 years. She finds this is not true.

Kiba, Tsume, Hige, Toboe and Blue are despondent. They were crossing a dry, barren desert with Cheza, who was getting weaker and weaker despite the plentiful sunlight. When Darcia shows up to take Cheza before she dies, Cheza cannot stand the sight of the wolves falling in blood. Especially Kiba, who keeps fighting even though his body is ravaged. Every time he falls there is more blood. Cheza, who hates the sight of wolf blood, runs forward and throws herself at the laser. It kills her instantly.

Soon after, the group is traveling slowly on when they come across a girl lying across a rock.

That's where this fanfic picks up.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. I WILL NOT WRITE THIS DISCLAIMER AGAIN!  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha or Wolfs Rain. I do not own any of the characters from either of those shows. I do not own any ideas from either of those shows.

I do own the idea to add the Book of the Moon. I have heard this book does exist, so I do not claim to know anything that is in it besides what has been told in Wolfs Rain.

Also, the beliefs of the characters in this fanfic or in either show do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the authoress.

I think that about covers it.

Chapter 1.

Blue eyes.

That was what she saw when her own eyes were forced open. Blue, swimmingly deep depths that she was easily falling into. They were brighter then her own darker blue eyes, and just as full of life. There was a fire, a spark that told of great destiny and endless courage to fulfill that destiny. She could feel the power, not magical power, but a physical power, a strength of heart, which emanated off of him in waves. When he saw that she was conscious he smiled and called over his shoulder.

Her whole body reacted with rigid tension. Instead speaking words, a series of barks were issued from his mouth. And somehow she understood what he said.

"She's finally awake."

It didn't necessarily scare her. After all, she had seen weirder things in the feudal era. He turned back to her and she saw the worry in his eyes, the obvious relief that she was awake. Immediately she calmed. Something deep in her soul told her there was nothing to fear from him.

She was still unsure of what exactly he was. There was no demon aura coming from him. And yet, she could feel that he was far more powerful than any human. In fact, he wasn't human at all, was he? She looked harder at him; using the little control she had over her miko powers to unveil his disguise. Little by little, she could feel the spell getting thinner and thinner.

What she saw made her gasp in surprise. A beautiful white wolf with bright glowing gold eyes was leaning over her, sniffing delicately. Its eyes widened slightly and he slowly backed away from her.

Still, she felt no fear. She knew there were others so she forced herself into a sitting position, despite the pain in her back. More glowing eyes met hers. There was a gray wolf with an X shaped scar on his chest, a large, burly one with a collar around his neck, a small, almost fox red one with bracelets on its right leg, and a black one with eyes that were almost the same color as her own eyes.

"Hello," she said quietly. "My name is Kagome." The white wolf backed away another step.

"How is it that you can see us?" The words were issued in a growl, but she understood them.

"I have certain powers that I have just learned to use." She searched for a better way to explain it. When she couldn't find one she shrugged. "They help me fight evil and deception."

"We're not evil." The feminine voice came from the black wolf.

"Maybe not, but you were trying to deceive me." The white wolf sniffed the air in her direction.

"You don't smell evil. You don't FEEL evil."

She laughed. "That's because I'm not."

He stepped closer. "But you have so much power." His eyes flashed. "Power makes people evil."

"What about you?" She fired back. His eyes narrowed. "You are very powerful, all of you are, and yet there is no evil in you."

"It is because our goal is pure." He answered. She smiled.

"And so is mine."

There was a long silence before the lighter colored wolf with the collar spoke.

"Well! Since we've got that out of the way, I'm Hige." And when he walked closer to her and held out an appendage she stopped fighting their spell and let it be a hand. Without fear she took his hand, ignoring the flash of fangs that was his muzzle, not his hand. As a person he was tall and imposing, being heavy built. His awkward, gentle smile completely alleviated any hesitation she had to liking him. Once standing she straightened out her clothes.

The smaller, younger wolf was now a boy with red hair. "Hi, I'm Toboe." he grinned and laced his fingers behind his head. She smiled and looked to where the black wolf had been standing. In her place was a pretty dark skinned girl with short, kind of crazy black hair.

"I love your boots." Kagome commented. The girl laughed.

"Thanks. I'm Blue, by the way." Kagome turned to the gray wolf. She almost gasped. For some reason, the person who stood before her reminded her of some one else. Inuyasha's brother, Sesshoumaru, had the same aloofness, the same great body, and gave off the same false pretense of not caring about anyone.

"What's your name?" She asked.

He looked pained for a moment, and then turned to her.

"Tsume." Was his clipped response. She nodded.

"You're a lot like someone I know." She said, but he just turned his back to her again. She ignored it and then turned to where she knew she would be staring into blue eyes. Her breath caught in her throat when she started to ask his name. With those stunning blue eyes, that rough, but handsome body and wild black mane she found herself unable to speak. He saved her the trouble.

"My name is Kiba." He graced her with a small smile. "So, what is your goal?"

"To restore the souls of my friends to their bodies so that they might live again. It will be my wish..." She looked down, her hand over her chest. "I was told by a great priestess that first I would have to reach paradise before I could make such a wish."

Tsume's jaw clenched.

Toboe and Hige both gasped the word, "Paradise!"

Kiba alone remained unfazed. "We were meant to meet then."

Kagome lifted her eyes to meet his. "Huh?"

"Our goal is paradise."

"She'll have to travel with us, won't she?" Tsume said, disgust in his voice. He was watching as Kagome and Kiba talked a little ways away from the corner of his eye.

"I don't know," Hige grinned. "It won't be so bad to have another girl in the pack." Blue rolled her eyes.

"Do you jump every bitch you see?" She asked. (Remember, bitch is a female dog)

"Well, only the gorgeous ones." He defended himself with a blush.

Blue laughed. "I see."

Toboe blushed. "She is very pretty." He put a hand over his heart. "She kind of makes me feel like Cheza used to."

Hige nodded, she made his heart flutter too. "Why do think that is?"

Tsume turned to look at them. "She's special. She's like Cheza, except stronger." He snorted. "And she's not a plant."

"So this Cheza, she was special?" Kagome asked.

Kiba looked down, his lips tight. "She was a lunar flower, made into the embodiment of a young, beautiful girl. She was supposed to lead us to paradise." His expression brightened when he looked into her eyes. "I think you're supposed to lead us now. You were sent to us for a reason."

"Lead you to..." Kagome stopped. "How am I supposed to lead you to paradise?"

Kiba looked deep into her eyes. "Because you know where it is."

Kagome's eyes narrowed and she sighed. "And how do I know where it is?" She asked incredulously.

He smiled gently. "Instinct."

There was a quiet among the group as they sat in the bright sun. An hour, maybe two passed before anyone spoke. Kiba stood up and motioned Kagome to stand next to him.

"Let's go." He said, looking at Kagome. She backed off a step.

"I, I don't..." She stuttered.

"Do you think she's going to lead us?" Tsume asked, scowling.

"Can she?" Toboe asked excitedly.

"NO!" Kagome said. Kiba's voice was louder as he said "Yes," at the same time. He looked around the group, willing them to see what he saw.

"She can. She _will_." He turned to Kagome and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let your instincts guide you." He pulled her away from the group.

"She's a human. You think she has-" Tsume began.

"She does!" Kiba interjected with a snarl. "Your doubts wont help her any!" He stopped a good 10 yards from the others and backed slowly away from her.

"Close your eyes. Let your power guide you."

Kagome gave him a narrow eyed look, but then shut her eyes and concentrated. She let the world fade around her and just let herself feel. Slowly, she felt as if she could feel the earth turning beneath her, and it was turning far faster then it should have been. It was a dizzying experience, and she knew she was swaying on the spot. Distantly, she heard their voices, heard Kiba telling them to leave her alone. She smiled, he was right. To come near her now would be to break the spell.

There was light to her right and she turned towards it, letting its pull lead her. She wondered at it, considering that her eyes were shut and the sun was high overhead. And this light... it was pure, and white. It beckoned to her. Deep in her chest a sharp pain throbbed as the Jewel of Four Souls tried to leave her body, wanting to reach that heavenly light. She screamed, the sound high pitched and resounding across the barren land to bound miles away.

"Cher, what is that terrible noise?" Detective Hubb Luboski asked the beautiful blonde woman next to him. Her eyes were staring in the direction of the noise and she looked terrified.

"It's... It's..." She stood up. "It's the scream. It's _her_ scream. The Second beacon of the wolves." She grabbed her coat and her bag and ran towards the car they had been using to return home. Hubb was hot on her heels and firing questions at her, but she ignored them.

Once in the car she reached for the keys but Hubb grabbed her hand.

"What is going on Cher?" He asked, holding tight to her. Her eyes were wide and terrified.

"From the Book of the Moon. It's the keeper of the Jewel of Four Souls. The one who will destroy paradise."

When Kagome woke once again there were blue eyes looking into her own. But this time they were familiar. She sat up carefully, feeling for any injuries. Besides being woefully tired, she felt fine.

"What happened?" she asked, sitting up to find herself in a dense wood. It was a huge change from the barren desert they had been in last time she had awoken. "Where am I?"

"You led us here." Kiba answered. "You..." he trailed off.

Blue picked up the sentence for him. "You were screaming, and then you started to glow. You eyes were glowing a pure, white light. And then you, you flew." She said uncertainly.

Kagome shrieked. "I did what? I can't fly!" She protested. She had started to get up, but she sank back to the ground. When Kiba rushed to her side, she looked up at him. "I flew?" He nodded and offered a hand. She took it to pull herself up with.

Hige gave a more detailed explanation. "When you were screaming and then glowing you rose into the air, facing northeast, your head thrown back and your eyes glowing white. And then you stopped screaming and looked down at all of us. You said, "Come, wolves." and streaked off so fast we could barely keep up. We ran like hell for miles. And then you just stopped and dropped slowly to the ground. When you stopped glowing Kiba said we could go near you. You were asleep, or maybe unconscious because we couldn't wake you." His eyes slid down. "We were getting worried. You've been asleep for almost two days."

Kagome spoke shakily. "I flew?" She asked again. Then she laughed. "That's one talent I wish I had known before now. I could have avoided a lot of nasty landings." She was thinking of the times demons had thrown her into the air, or times she had fallen from pretty high places. Or there was that time she was blasted by Tetsusaiga when Sesshoumaru had taken it from Inuyasha...

"Done a lot of falling?" Tsume asked. Kagome smiled wryly.

"More like a lot of demons have tried to teach me how to fly. And they never succeeded."

Blue giggled. "What did you do to make them angry?" She asked.

Kagome shrugged. "I tried to take something that didn't belong to them. Or else wouldn't give them what they wanted. Or tried to purify them. Or was protecting my friends. Or-"

"I think we get it." Hige interrupted, but smiled good-naturedly. Kagome blushed. "But wait," Hige's smile slipped off his lips. "What do you mean you tried to purify them?"

"I have the power of the priestess I was reincarnated from. I can purify demonic auras; sometimes I can purify things that aren't demonic, but just evil. I still have a hard time controlling my powers though."

"Priestess? You mean, like from legends of Old Japan?" Asked Toboe. Kagome nodded.

"Um, what year is this?" She asked apprehensively. This looked nothing like the world she had belonged to, and it didn't resemble the feudal era at all either.

"Years were stopped being counted after the Global Warming disaster. I've heard it happened in the twenty first century. It's been about 500 hundred years since then." Tsume answered.

"Five hundred..." For a moment her brain froze as only one thought occurred to her. She had traveled five hundred years into the past to mess things up there, and now she was five hundred years in the future, and apparently had a destiny to fulfill here. Was she going to fuck things up here too? How many lives would suffer because of her?

She stood up and began to rapidly back away from her new friends, looking from face to face. Would they die as well? She had already come to love them in her own way. Would it be her fault if Tsume died without getting closure from whatever haunted him? What if Hige, with his laughing manner, died before her? Or Toboe, who was so gentle, so sweet. Would she kill that bright smile? What about Blue, who was so nice to her, and so obviously full of life? Would she cause her death? And Kiba, who was driven to fulfill a destiny that forced him so much pain. Kiba...

She turned and ran, tears streaming down her cheeks. She heard them calling to her, and then giving chase. She tried to push herself faster, but her weak muscles were already exhausted and she tripped. She went down hard.

She got up and tried again, but they were rapidly catching her. The next time she tripped she stayed down since they were nearly upon her.

When they caught up to her she was curled into a ball, sobbing words they could barely understand.

"I won't. I won't. I won't."

She was shaking uncontrollably.

"I WON'T!"

"Cher, Cher the screaming stopped." Hubb put a hand on her arm. "How are you going to find her without something to guide you?"

"Just watch the sky." She was gripping the wheel of the car, her face almost plastered to the windshield to see the sky better as she drove. "Watch the sky! We'll find her!" her voice was hoarse in excitement. This was the second telling in the Book. With the fall of the moon would be the fall of paradise. The evil part of the Jewel of Four Souls would be emitted into paradise and would cause paradise to crumble unless the keeper of the jewel was strong enough to hold that evil out.

"The Keeper of the Jewel?" Hubb repeated. Cher hadn't realized she was thinking out loud.

"Yes. If she defeats the evil within the Jewel she will become-" Her words were cut off as a bright light could be seen hovering in the sky. It streaked off to the right and Cher spun the wheel of the vehicle to intercept the speeding light. The way was bumpy and she was clenching the steering wheel with both hands to keep from losing control. Hubb, being rather tall, kept hitting his head on the top of the car.

"Cher," Hubb started.

BUMP

"SLOW," he yelled. BANG

"DOWN!" He finished loudly.

A final smash was heard as they hit a bump that was just too much for the little old car. The front wheel flew off, the bolts smashed. The front end dropped down on that side and they slid to a stop, just short of the edge of a huge sandy hill.

Hubb was holding his head in his hand.

"Cher, are you okay? Cher!" But she was already out of the car. Hubb followed her. She stopped at the top of the sandy bank. "Cher are you out of your-" Hubb started, but she held up a hand to silence him. He looked in the direction she was looking.

The bright light was headed almost straight for them. There was four different colored blobs rising and falling in its wake. As it got closer both of them realized those blobs were wolves. There was the black one that used to belong to Quent, a red one with bracelets on it front leg, a gray one with a scar on its chest, an orangey one with a collar around its neck, and the white one that used to be so protective of Cheza. The light became a teenage girl wearing the Old Japanese traditional school outfit. Her skin seemed to be one fire with white light. Her eyes were creepy; the pupil and iris were lost to that pure white light.

The whole troop sped by, leaving a dust cloud in their wake. Cher sank down into the sand, stunned.

The Guardian of the Jewel did exist. And unless they stopped her she would be the downfall of this earth and paradise.

END.

Please review with any and all critiques. Just no flames please. I warned you at the beginning.

Thanks for reading!

Oh, and one other thing. As long as there is one person reading this, I will write it. If there is at least one review that is somewhat positive, I will write another chapter. Be warned, if you read this, and there are no reviews by the next week, I won't write another chapter. There's no point if no one reviews it.

Thanks for listening to my whining and harping and all other stuff. Until next time.

Riasha


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Somebody must have reviewed because I'm writing another chapter! YAY!

Okay, no waiting, here's...

Chapter 2.

Kiba was watching her.

When Kagome had regained her strength they had proceeded forward through the dense forest. Without a word they followed her, even Tsume was taking a bit of faith into himself after seeing what she had done. Toboe and Hige had believed it as soon as they had met her, trusting their instincts. Blue wasn't sure what to think yet.

And Kiba watched her.

Any normal person would be stumbling and bumping through the forest. Kagome walked quickly and quietly. She had had a lot of practice in the feudal era. Traveling with Inuyasha had required that she be able to move quickly through a forest. And the jewel in her chest pulled her on, though not nearly as painfully.

All the while, she could feel his eyes on her.

It was beginning to get on her nerves. She was paying less and less attention to the terrain and the life around her and more and more attention to his irritating eyes boring into the back of her head. She was almost getting angry now. When she tripped and almost fell that was the last straw. She spun around to ask him just _what_ was so interesting about the back of her head but never got the words out.

"Quiet," Kiba hissed, a hand raised up to silence and still everyone. Hige sniffed the air and a growl rumbled in his throat.

"Wolves. And there's the scent of a noble on them." Hige said, disgust in his voice.

"There are others like you?" Kagome asked. Kiba nodded.

"Most people think wolves are completely extinct, that's why we hide in human form. But there are many of us out there still." He looked nonchalantly in the direction he scented them. "There's something wrong with these wolves."

There was a tense stillness, and then a sudden flash of light brown as a wolf came out of the trees to attack Kiba. In a movement too fast to see, Kiba stepped to the side and knocked the wolf flying.

Suddenly, there were many wolves coming at them, their eyes blank and red.

Hubb hoped there was a town nearby, because his legs were god damned _tired_. Cher was going in her high heels like it was nothing. He groaned as she motioned him to hurry up.

"Cher, I can't walk anymore. I'm tired. I think its time for a break." Cher turned to look at him.

"There will be plenty of time for a break when paradise falls and we're all dead." She said seriously and turned to keep going.

"Cher!" He protested, but it fell on deaf ears. He trudged forward, sighing.

There had better be a town soon, because he was going to just lie down in the sand and stay there. With or without Cher.

"Kagome!" Kiba yelled, racing towards her as a wolf went for her throat. He wasn't close enough to stop the wolf and he knew it.

Kagome knew it too. She watched the wolf fly through the air, its red eyes getting closer and closer, its jaws opened wide to tear out her throat. She reacted on instinct, her hands coming up to protect herself, open and facing the wolf. Just as she screamed a brilliant light emitted from the palms of her hands. The wolf convulsed in pain and fell next to her. It was dead seconds after hitting the ground.

Kagome looked at it in shock, and then fell to her knees next to it, tears pouring down her face. Just before it died she could feel the very life force in the wolf change. It became weaker, but more importantly, it became real. Something had been controlling that wolf. It hadn't wanted to attack her.

They were all being controlled. And it was hurting them. She could hear them; she could hear their voices, begging for forgiveness. Begging for it to end.

She stood amongst them. They were running, ripping at her friends, causing blood to fly. Tears streamed down her face as her eyes began to glow. This time the glow spread down to her fingers. A wolf attacked her but Kiba was closer now and he threw it into a tree. Even though its spine broke in half it got up and charged again. They all were still going, even when the wounds they sustained were fatal. Inside, they were howling in pain.

Kagome could feel their pain. With a sob she let her power flow free of her fingers. A wave of pure, white power flowed through the trees. The wolves fell where they stood; free of the spell, but the price was death. Each one was willing to pay that price to keep from attacking another pack, and to stop the terrible pain as they broke bones and continues to move. Silently they thanked her as their life force was taken from their bodies.

When every wolf had been hit by her power, Kagome's eyes returned to normal and she fell to her knees, a scream of fury erupting from her throat.

The other wolves watched her, feeling as if their own hearts were being torn from their chests. Though they didn't understand why, they each went to her in wolf form, curling around her knees to comfort her. Kiba was lying on her right, Toboe on her left. Hige and Blue sat in front of her, not touching, but their presence was enough. Tsume sat just behind her, not quite touching.

They stayed that way as her screams became broken sobs.

His heart was wrenching.

"Cher..."

"I feel it too, Hubb." She had finally stopped and had hand over her heart. It looked like she was trying to hold it in so it wasn't torn out. "Its her, the Guardian. She must be very sad. Or else very angry." Cher turned to Hubb. "She has so much power. Can you feel it?"

Hubb nodded. "She..." His eyes got wide and he forgot whatever it was he was going to say. His eyes were looking just over Cher's shoulder.

"What, Hubb? What is it?" When he didn't answer she turned to look over her shoulder. For a moment she saw nothing but endless sand. Then she saw it too.

It was a city.

When they started forward at an eager pace, Hubb needed no prodding to keep going. They walked side by side, struggling to keep a fast pace. After an hour the city could be seen clearly rising up against the azure sky. Behind it was vegetation. A forest had found sufficient water to grow and flourish. They could hear the sounds of a live forest, even so far away. And they could feel the pain in their hearts that had not gone away since the screams had begun get even stronger.

So when they entered town a few hours later, they were not surprised to hear the village talk was of a brilliant white light that had passed a few miles from their village. A few people claimed that they had seen wolves following that light, but mostly they were scorned for believing something that had to be impossible, since wolves were extinct.

Hubb and Cher listened to the talk and believed. They knew for sure that wolves did exist. And after they found food and transportation, they left the village to enter the forest by the only road available. It was rough and almost a trail, but it was passable.

They could feel the guardian's presence. And they knew they were getting closer.

They slept almost exactly as they had circled her. Kagome's head rested against Kiba's shoulder, Toboe curled up against her stomach, Hige and Blue each laid a jaw against her legs. Tsume was on the other side of her legs, his head resting on his paws, his back flush with her lower legs.

They woke slowly, Tsume first, though he never opened his eyes. Hige and Blue sat up, ready to go and do something. Kiba opened his eyes but did not move, not wanting to disturb the girl sleeping on him just yet.

"Is Toboe...?" He nodded in the direction of the young wolf.

Hige shook his head. "He's still out like a log." Hige snorted.

"I'm surprised your up." Blue laughed. "You usually sleep even more deeply then Toboe." Hige shrugged.

"Gotta get my beauty sleep, ya know." He grinned. They all laughed together. Kagome made a noise and the laughter died immediately. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Good Morning." Kiba said softly. Kagome blinked the sleep from her eyes, and then sat up quickly. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were red.

"Oh, I'm s, sorry. I didn't mean to, um, sleep on you." She looked away, embarrassed. She had become accustomed to the people in the feudal era, who valued personal space. To intrude upon it was to make an advance upon someone. And even in her own time, sleeping on another person was almost like having a pretty heavy relationship. A male person, anyway.

Kiba just laughed at her. He knew humans had an odd view on the opposite sex sleeping together. Being a wolf, sleeping close to others was normal for him, regardless of the sex of the others around him. Besides, he had become used to having a female around who depended on him. The hole Cheza's death had made inside of him was at least partially filled by Kagome's very presence.

So her reaction was not wholly unexpected. She tried to stand up, to put a distance between them to heighten her own comfort level. But Tsume was still pretending to sleep against her legs and she found herself unwilling to wake him from his pretend sleep. So she sat uncomfortably for many moments, braced on her hands, while the wolves who weren't 'sleeping' watched in amusement. Toboe was waking from her moving away from his back.

"Did you have to move yet?" he whined. "It was such a nice dream." And his eyes opened. Kagome smiled awkwardly.

"Um, sorry?" She said.

Kiba noticed that her arms were starting to shake from the awkward position she was bracing herself on them. He poked Tsume with his back foot.

"Tsume, quit pretending to sleep. Kagome needs to get up." he said.

Tsume twitched and then made a show of standing and stretching. "I wasn't pretending," he claimed and then walked a few paces away to sit. Kagome sat up more comfortably. Hige snorted that he didn't believe Tsume.

Kagome smiled at Tsume's back. She was absently stroking Toboe's head and back and he was trying not to wriggle at the feeling of it. When he moved against her hand she realized what she was doing and stopped, embarrassed again.

"I didn't mean to-" She started but was cut off as again Kiba laughed at her.

"Don't you pet dogs?" Kiba asked her.

"Well, yeah." She was blushing furiously now. "But I couldn't talk to them and see them as people!" She said. Hige and Blue laughed as well.

"Just because you can see us as people doesn't mean we are people. We're wolves, and though we have pride, being petted does feel amazing." Hige told her. Blue looked sad.

"I don't have the same pride they do. I never knew begging for attention would ever be something I shouldn't do." She sighed. "I wish I could see Pops."

Kagome looked inquiringly at Blue, but Blue wasn't looking at her. Hige understood the situation right off.

"Blue, wanna help me find something to eat?" Hige invited her. "There's got to be something worth eating in this forest." He stood and Blue stood with him, nodding. They started off through the forest at a run.

Kagome turned around to face Kiba. "What was that all about?" She asked. "I didn't say something wrong, did I?"

"It wasn't you." Kiba said. "Blue used to live with a human named Quent. She didn't know she was half wolf until Cheza." He told her.

"I know how she must feel." Toboe said. "I used to live with an old woman. She was really good to me. She gave me these." He shook the bracelets on his front right leg.

Kagome looked apprehensively from face to face. "So, you like to be petted? And its not like, insulting for me to pet you?" She asked. Toboe smiled and shook his head. She looked at Kiba.

"Its not insulting." He told her.

Cautiously, she reached out a hand towards his white, wolf head. His eyes shut just before she touched him. Her fingers stroked over his head and he let out a breath of contentment. She smiled and started to pet Toboe with the other hand. He, too, shut his eyes in contentment. After a few moments she noticed Tsume eying her. Kiba noticed it too. As much as he wanted to keep Kagome to himself he stopped her petting and brought his muzzle close to her ear.

Kagome giggled. "Are you sure?" She asked him. He nodded. She stopped petting Toboe and went over to sit next to Tsume. Carefully, she laid a hand on the back of his neck, just behind his ears. And she started to massage.

"Don't..." he said weakly. Kagome looked at Kiba, who motioned her on, grinning. So instead of stopping she started to scratch. Tsume groaned in pleasure and arched his neck so she could get at the spot better. His hind foot started to tap the ground rhythmically and she giggled.

"Me next!" Toboe said. He raced over to where Kagome and Tsume sat. She reached out her other hand and scratched the same spot she was scratching on Tsume. She giggled harder as Toboe started to pound the forest floor with his foot.

After a few minutes she stopped, despite the mournful eyes they both turned to her. "Don't look at me like that! My hands are tired!" She said, holding her hands up limply. "See!"

"Aw, really?" Toboe asked, swiping her hand with his tongue. She wiped her hand on her skirt.

"Really!" She answered, laughing. Tsume put a paw on her leg. She looked at him, startled.

"Thank you." He struggled with the words. "That was... nice." His eyes dropped and he removed his paw from her leg.

She smiled.

"Your welcome."

Kiba turned suddenly, his stance protective.

"What?" Kagome asked.

"Humans. In a vehicle. They're close."

"They are probably through the forest by now." Cher said resignedly. "Hopefully there will be some sign of which way they went." She sighed. She knew wolves could travel pretty quickly. She wasn't sure about the guardian. The Book of the Moon said the Guardian would be a teenage girl. A human. But she obviously had some kind of powers, and might be able to move as fast as the wolves. They were screwed if that was the case.

"I have a feeling they're not too far ahead." Hubb told her. She looked at him sideways for a second because the feeling of horrendous pain in their chests had disappeared a little while ago. They had nothing to guide them now.

"I can still feel her." Hubb said quietly. Cher gave him a sharp look.

"What do you mean?" She asked roughly.

"She's happy." Hubb told her softly. "She's happy with the wolves." He said, frowning. "She... She," he started.

"What? What Hubb?" Cher demanded.

"She knows we're coming."

Cher just looked at him. "What are you talking about? There's no way-" But her words were cut off as a gray wolf with a cross shaped scar on its chest jumped on the windshield. Cher slammed on the brakes and the wolf slid to one side, but caught its balance and jumped off the car. When the car had come to a full stop Hubb spoke.

"The wolves told her we were coming. They could smell us." He said. Cher screamed when suddenly a boy, no, a man appeared next to her window. There was no glass covering in the side windows, and that meant there was no barrier between them.

"What do you want with Kagome?" He demanded. His long black hair was in disarray around his face. It only enhanced his good looks.

Then she saw her. She was almost the opposite of Cheza in every way, except for the gentleness and purity in her eyes. But in looks, they were so very different. The guardian was much more a woman than Cheza, who was forever trapped in the body of a girl. The girl standing in the woods had black hair and a toned physique. And the thing she had expected the least of all, though the Book of the Moon had said so, was that the guardian seemed to be human.

"Why are you here!" Kiba asked, annoyed that Cher had not answered him the first time. Her eyes left the guardian to meet his.

"We have to stop the guardian from opening paradise." She told him. Beside her, Hubb groaned.

"Cher, shut up..."

"Why do you want to stop us from opening paradise?" Kiba asked then. Cher was just noticing that snarling wolves surrounded them. The gray one had jumped on the windshield of their car had its paws up on Hubb's door and was growling inches from his face.

She swallowed, but took courage from the fact that they had done nothing to hurt them before now. "That girl cannot enter paradise as long as she is the guardian of the jewel. The jewel will bring down paradise and earth and will be the end of humanity as we know it." She said. Kiba scowled.

"You lie! Kagome will lead us to paradise! And we will find a future there!" he said. Cher shook her head slowly.

"No. Not as long as the jewel enters paradise with her."

"What jewel?" Kiba asked angrily.

"The Shikon." Kagome answered. "The jewel that resides in my body." Kagome picked her way through the forest toward where the car was parked awkwardly.

"Kagome, don't-" Kiba started, worried for her safety.

"Guys, its okay. Don't you think they would have brought some sort of weapons to attack us with if they wanted to hurt us?" And she stopped next to Kiba. "I need you to tell me everything you know about the jewel. Why can't it enter paradise?"

"Maybe we should..." Hubb made a motion of getting out of the car. Kiba nodded at Tsume, who looked like he'd rather not listen, but then got off the door and stood up, becoming human in seconds. Hubb made a surprised noise, but then smiled and got out of the car anyway. Cher hesitated, but she too opened the door and got out.

Hubb's stomach growled and he grinned. "I uh, haven't eaten much lately." He explained.

Kagome looked to Blue and Hige, who had showed up soon after Tsume had jumped on the car. "Did you guys find anything?" she asked. Hige grinned and pulled out a rabbit from behind the bushes. Blue came up with two more. Kagome grinned.

"Perfect! We can cook one for us people to share, and you guys can eat the other two... however you want to eat them." She said, and made a face. Toboe suppressed a giggle.

"How are we going to make a fire to cook with?" Blue asked.

Kagome grinned. "Oh, I am an EXPERT fire starter." She looked around the wooded area and found some dead, dry branches. She stacked them in a way they would burn best, and then hovered close to the sticks so the wolves and people around her couldn't see what she was doing. There was a little sizzling noise, and when she stepped back the little branches had caught and were spreading. Quickly, before the fire could catch other places, she scraped anything that might burn away from the fire so it was only the forest dirt that surrounded the fire.

It wasn't like she hadn't learned this from watching Sango and Miroku start a fire many times. How could she not pick up some pointers?

"How did you do that?" Toboe asked. Cher squinted at her.

"She must have had matches or a lighter." Cher said confidently.

Kagome lifted her arms, shrugging. "Search me. I've nothing." She turned a small circle. It was true. She had no pockets and nothing with her. Tsume sniffed near her, then near the fireplace. He shrugged.

"I don't care. I'm hungry. I'm going to find something else to eat." And he turned and took off at a run into the forest.

"Lets eat." Kiba said, looking off in the direction Tsume had disappeared to.

It was Kagome who came up with the rotisserie system of sticks. She stuck the skinned rabbit on it and threw some pine needles into the fire to give the rabbit a smoky taste. She found some vegetables in the nearby wilderness to cook in large, wet leaves at the bottom of the fire. Every minute or two she turned the rabbit on the spit. Tsume returned shortly, a little blood in his claws and teeth.

The humans tried to ignore the other wolves tearing at the raw rabbit. It was hard, but the wolves finished quickly. In fact, they were finished eating long before Kagome finished cooking the human's supper.

And so when everyone was quiet and either waiting for their food, or just barely satisfied with theirs, she began to tell them about what had happened to her. She started from the very beginning, though did not go into detail about the things that happened to her. She told them about the jewel transporting her into the past, and how her time was before the Global Warming disaster. She told them of meeting Kaede and Inuyasha. She told them of how Inuyasha and Kikyou were deceived by Naraku.

With love she talked of Shippou and Miroku and Sango and how they each were hurt by Naraku. She told them about chasing after shards of the Shikon, and how embarrassed she was about breaking it. She told them about Inuyasha's brother, Sesshoumaru, and how the supposedly ruthless demon let a child travel with him. With hatred she told them of the villages that were ruined and the people hurt or killed because of Naraku.

And then, she told them of the last battle. Her voice nearly broke when she recounted how many times Inuyasha charged Naraku and was hurt badly, but kept trying.

And then she had the jewel in her hands. "I don't remember anything after the jewel fused together and entered back into my body. I believe it transported me here to begin a new destiny. With these wolves." She looked at Cher.

"Why can't the jewel enter paradise?"

Cher sighed. "The Book of the Moon says the jewel stays pure in the hands of the Guardian. But once in paradise the evil that resides in the jewel would become stronger and the guardian would have to fight it. If the guardian was not strong enough, the evil would win and paradise would fall. Paradise cannot be if there is evil within it." Cher looked into Kagome's eyes. "Are you strong enough to kill a century old evil?"

"I don't know." She said honestly. "All I know is that the jewel brought me here to try. And I will do the best I can." She said, though her voice lacked confidence.

"What if..." Hubb started. "What if the evil part of the jewel brought you here so it could bring about the fall of paradise?"

"Impossible." Cher and Kagome said at the same time. Cher motioned Kagome to go ahead.

"You see, when the jewel transported me it had already been purified. When it's pure the evil part of the jewel has no control of it. Therefore it was the pure part of the jewel that transported me here. That's why I have to open paradise. I have to so I can make my wish." Kagome looked at Cher. "I have to rectify my mistakes."

Cher nodded. She was beginning to understand. And the more she talked to her and the wolves, the more she knew them, the more she believed that maybe, just maybe they could open paradise without evil.

When she looked at Hubb, she could see in his eyes that he believed in them as well.

Quent missed Blue. He found that where he used to talk to Blue, he ended up talking to himself instead. It was pathetic.

But Blue was running with those wolves now. Could he kill her if he found them? No, he couldn't kill Blue. She had not attacked his family. He knew she wasn't a killer. It was those other ones, the wild wolves. They would all die, he would make sure of it. He would stop them before they killed more people. Wolves were evil by nature. But Blue was only half wolf, and she had grown up with humans.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. The endless desert sand wasn't doing anything to help him take his mind off of her either. It just kept going on and on-

Wait a minute. Was that buildings he saw in the distance?

It was. Quent walked faster into the same city Hubb and Cher had just passed through a day ago. And when he arrived there, he heard the same talk Cher and Hubb had heard.

He was closing in on those wolves. And he was going to kill them all.

Even Blue, if she made him.

END.

Thanks again for all of the reviews!

Riasha


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews. I feel so loved! But yeah, I do have one complaint. You guys are all complimenting me and telling me how much you want me to write more, but where's the CRITICISM? How am I ever supposed to become a top writer if you guys don't tell me what's WRONG with my writing? Don't you want my story to be even better?

And so, to be a mean and demanding authoress, I ask, no, demand, that there be at least one criticism on this chapter. Or the previous chapters.

Since I'm not much of a threatener, I'm not saying I won't write another chapter. I like this story idea too much and you guys seem to like it too.

So I'm not threatening, just pleading for help. I need to know what I'm doing wrong! And don't you people who were good in English tell me there isn't anything, because I know there must be.

And please, no offers for beta-ing. I've loved my previous betas, but I just don't have time to send it to people and stuff. Plus, I want you to see my original work. That way many people can see the flaws and maybe I can improve on it instead of having someone else fix it for me.

So anyway, after that long-winded rant, here's some more of After the Lunar Flower.

Chapter 3.

Sesshoumaru could smell it miles before he ever got there. Youkai had told him of a great battle on his lands, and of course, since they were his lands, he should have known far before now. How he had missed it until now was an anomaly.

His brothers' blood clogged his nostrils so badly it was making him nauseous. But it wasn't only his brother's blood. He could smell that of the other young youkai that traveled with him as well as the humans dirty blood. And though he could smell them he could not feel them at all. It disturbed him slightly.

When he got closer, the smell of evil revealed itself quite suddenly as he went through a barrier. And whatever evil had made that barrier had bled as well. Its stink filled the air so thickly he could hardly smell anything else anymore. He lifted an arm to cover his delicate nose with his sleeve. When he arrived upon the scene of battle the stink became almost unbearable. What he saw made him forget the smell.

His half brothers friends were lying in pools of their own blood. It was easy for him to reconstruct the battle as he moved throughout the clearing. Inuyasha and his friends had charged into here, probably heedlessly, to end up trapped. They might have even known it was a trap. The attack was bloody. There were purified demons everywhere from the monk and the weird miko. The rest were in shreds from Inuyasha and the Tajiya. But he could see the blood spatters on the ground were also from the slayers. They had been hurt pretty badly during the fight. In fact, the little neko youkai had died trying to protect her mistress when the children of Naraku had been taken down.

So when they had turned to face Naraku they were already badly hurt. But they were angry. He could see it in how hard they hit Naraku despite their injuries. And then they started to fall. The Kitsune first, though he did not die immediately when the Saimyosho stung him. There were marks in the dirt where he had thrashed in pain. There were also knee marks where the miko had tried to help him. He could smell the antidote and the bottle was lying nearby. Apparently she hadn't gotten it to him fast enough, because the kitsune lay in this spot, lifeless.

The monk was next. The Saimyosho also poisoned him, and since the antidote had been finished on Shippou, there was no way to save him. Again, the Miko's prints could be seen, but Sesshoumaru reasoned that this time she didn't have to watch him die. She had propped his head up with some cloth and probably left to help the others when he prompted her to. He could smell a slight saltiness and knew that there had been tears in her eyes when she left him.

He pondered this, and then gave it up as something he simply could not understand.

Kagome had not gone far when she had stopped. He stood where she had and looked in the direction she must have been looking. She was looking in the direction that Inuyasha had been battling Naraku. He went that way to understand her sudden stop.

He could see by the pattern of Inuyasha's feet that he was making a desperate effort. He was charging forward and then there was a hesitation in his step and a lot of blood. But his steps continued at a slightly slower rate. A trail of blood followed. Just to the side of the trail was a tentacle of Naraku's. It was puzzling, because Naraku's flesh usually came back to him. There was blood smeared all the way down the tentacle. It was Inuyasha's blood. It must have punctured Inuyasha, who kept charging even as the tentacle slid through the puncture. His idiotic brother had used this as a way to get close to Naraku's body.

What a dimwit.

There was a blood spatter on the ground next to Naraku where Inuyasha's trail ended. It was Naraku's blood. When he bent down to touch the blood on the ground there was a flash of pearly white. In it he glimpsed Inuyasha ripping the jewel out of Naraku's body. He stood up.

Inuyasha must have ripped the tentacle off just before taking the jewel. The jewel was what regenerated Naraku's body.

Inuyasha's trail of bloody, scuffed prints lead in the direction of where Kagome had stopped. His steps dragged more and more until he fell. Kagome's prints from where she had stopped lead to where Inuyasha lay, face-first on the ground. She had dropped to the ground next to the dying hanyou and turned him over. Sesshoumaru looked down at Inuyasha's front and saw that the whole in Inuyasha's stomach had been poisoned to keep him from healing. Since no healing whatsoever could take place, his intestines and other things had spilled out. And yet Sesshoumaru could see where the Hanyou had still been moving. He had sat up and given Kagome the jewel, who gripped it very tightly. He figured that from the little spatter of her blood on the ground, and because she had sustained no other wounds.

The damn hanyou must have died sitting up because when he had hit the ground again, he had been dead. The Miko's scent was all over him, and there was a strong smell of salt in one spot on Inuyasha's chest. She must have cried on him. Sesshoumaru did not understand why this girl shed so many tears for so many people.

Naraku had charged at them as Kagome had cried unheeding on Inuyasha. The exterminator had seen the danger and in a desperate attempt to save Kagome's life had jumped in the way. The tentacle had punctured her right through her chest, right through the girl's heart. It had been her killing blow.

Sesshoumaru was about to go over to the exterminator, to see if the young miko had visited her as well. But then he noticed that the girl's tracks led in the opposite direction. He hadn't spotted them at first because they were as light as air. She was walking slowly, and there was disturbance in the dirt nearby. He had seen this type of thing happen before when someone used huge amounts of power. The power would actually become wind and affect its nearby surroundings. It was hard to believe that this trail was that of that weakling human. She had been a miko, but a weak one.

Unless she was getting this power from the jewel.

She must have fused the whole jewel together. And when she did, she must have wished for such power. But there was a flaw in this plan. Magic like that left behind traces, and there were none. One moment, the girl was as weak as any human, and the next she had power to match most demons. Maybe because she was the jewel's guardian it gave her its power when she fused it back together. This conclusion seemed most probable.

The tracks led to about ten feet from the vile Hanyou who had killed Inuyasha and all of her friends. Except where Naraku should have been, there was scorched earth and a pile of ashes, accompanied by the girl's power. So this Kagome had finished off Naraku. And her trail simply vanished. There was no scent leading anywhere. It was like she had been lifted into the air to disappear.

Sesshoumaru was finished with this for the moment. He went back to his home, fully informed and thoroughly confused.

It was a bumpy ride in the car. Silent, too. Kagome hated silences like this. It always felt so awkward.

The wolves ran alongside the car, Tsume and Kiba easily keeping up, the other three having a slightly harder time. They were being stubborn though and would not accept the multiple offers to ride in the car. At first, when they started to trail behind, they took frequent breaks. After a while, Blue and Toboe were constantly unable to keep up.

There was little scuffle, and then Toboe got in the car, looking entirely put out. They went for a short time this way, and then Blue and Toboe switched.

This went on for almost two days before they came upon a city. All involved were starved, since they had been in desert again for the last day and a half. The wolves were used to going long periods without food, but the people weren't. Especially Kagome.

Kagome didn't notice too much. Since she couldn't drive she mostly slept, so she didn't feel the hunger the way the others did.

So when they saw the city, Hubb put the petal to the metal in the car and left the wolves behind. All except Kiba, who immediately thought they were trying to steal Kagome. Soon even he couldn't keep up with the speeding car.

Kagome awoke because the ride had suddenly become very jarring.

"Whas goin' on?" She said, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She sat up and nearly hit her head on the ceiling and then toppled back down to the floor. She landed on Toboe who yelped when she squashed his toe.

"Sorry!" She said, scrambling off of him.

"S'okay." he said, his voice sleepy. Kagome had been using him as a pillow, which she had been embarrassed by the first time but had gotten over rather quickly. Even Blue had insisted that it was fine for her head to rest on their furry shoulders. So eventually she had given in. Apparently Toboe had fallen asleep as well.

"There's a city." Cher informed them excitedly. Kagome climbed upright, clinging to anything she could to stay that way. Toboe sat up too, now human. He was gripping the seat in front of him tightly.

"Really? A city? Food!" He said, joy on his face.

"What about Kiba and the others?" Kagome asked. She could feel Kiba's anger. What had happened to make him angry?

"They're back there somewhere." Hubb said, taking one hand off the steering wheel to motion behind them.

Kagome folded her hands over her chest. "Well, that wasn't nice. Stop the car, we have to wait for them." Both the people in the front looked back at her with astonishment. Which meant Hubb wasn't looking at the road. Kagome shrieked and pointed at the road. Which of course brought the drivers attention back to it. There was some rough steering and bumping and then it smoothed out again.

"I am not stopping this car to wait for them. It will take them an hour to catch up!" Hubb stated forcefully.

Kagome's eye twitched. "I said, stop the car!" Hubb glanced at her in the rearview mirror. Toboe had flinched away from her and was now looking slightly scared. Whatever Hubb saw must have unnerved him a little because he did bring the car to a stop.

"Why are we stopping?" She looked at Hubb. "We're so close! Another half an hour and we'll be there."

"Because we need to wait for the others." Kagome said coldly from the back. Cher turned to glare at her. Kagome gave her the best scary look she had. Cher, being a woman, gave it right back. Finally Cher sat back, a smile on her face.

"Fine, fine. If they get here within an hour, we'll find a way to stuff everybody in the back. If they're not even visible, we're leaving in an hour." Cher said. Her voice light.

"Sounds like a compromise." Kagome said cheerfully. "I feel like a run, anyone want to come with?" She looked from face to face. Cher pointed to her high heels, Hubb gave her an apologetic 'I'm tired' look.

"I'd go but I've been running a lot lately." Toboe said. Kagome smiled at him.

"Good, you can keep an eye on them. Don't let them drive off!" She whispered. Toboe nodded.

"Uh huh!"  
Kagome crawled out of the car, stretched, and then took off in the direction of the wolves at a jog. She was in damn good shape, so after two miles she took a break, and then ran another mile. It took her about 25 minutes before she saw the wolves when jogging that third mile. They were bobbing up and down, running in her direction. She knew when Kiba caught sight of her because suddenly he broke away from the rest of them, running full out. Kagome smiled.

She stopped just as he was getting close. He slid to a stop five feet in front of her, breathing hard.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Kagome grinned. "The car just a few miles up ahead. And yes, I'm fine." She turned to go back toward the car. Kiba came up to walk beside her.

"What?" He placed a hand on her arm. "How did you get away? And where's Toboe?"

Kagome finally understood. "You thought they kidnapped me?" She chuckled. "No, they just saw the city and wanted to get there quickly because they are hungry. I woke up and found out and told them it wasn't nice to leave you guys behind. Toboe's with them, making sure they don't drive off."

"They weren't trying to..." He grinned. "How didn't I figure that out?"

And then he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. Kagome's cheeks flamed.

"What are you-"

"I'm glad you're alright." He whispered in her ear. "I thought they were trying to take you away from us." His lips gently grazed her ear in an affectionate kiss. Kagome blushed harder and pulled away a little.

"You don't even hardly know me! Do you think maybe you're a little too forward?" She said, her eyes not meeting his.

"Forward? That was supposed to be affectionate. If you want to see forward..."

Before she could reply that no, she certainly did not want to see forward she found her face trapped between his hands and his lips assaulting hers. Though his hands held her firm, his lips were so gentle that resistance never even entered her mind. She simply melted.

'I always wanted Inuyasha to kiss me like this.' And as soon as that thought entered her mind, she pulled away.

"Is that really necessary?" Tsume's voice was almost angry.

"No. Just enjoyable." Kiba said. Tsume looked even angrier for a moment, and then he turned away. Blue was just giving them a knowing look.

"Hey, what's up? How did you get the car to stop?" Hige asked, trying to change the subject. Kagome was still a bit flustered from the kiss so Kiba answered.

"It turns out they weren't trying to take her after all. They just saw the city and wanted to get there as fast as possible so they could eat." He pointed in the direction Kagome had come from. "The car is a couple of miles ahead of us."

And so they started at an easy run to catch up to the car. After a mile, Kagome had to take a break. She had already run almost three miles and though she was in good shape, she was not a wolf. When Kiba offered to carry her she adamantly refused, but eventually gave in. It had already been almost an hour. She was afraid that maybe the hungry couple would leave without them.

When she climbed up on Kiba's back she forgot her fears. It was so nostalgic of something she thought she would never be able to do again that, for a moment, her eyes burned and her throat tightened. And that kiss...

How could she be letting someone else kiss her like that? She had loved Inuyasha; she should be mourning his death. He died to save her and to save the jewel. Guilt assaulted her so badly that this time a tear did spill down her cheek.

Kiba must have been able to smell her tears because he stopped. The others did as well.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head. She couldn't tell him that she was guilty about their kiss. She just couldn't.

She didn't see Kiba motion the others to go on ahead to let Hubb and Cher know that they were coming because her face was buried in his shoulder so no one could see her. She hated to cry, and she hated it even more if it was in front of people.

It surprised her when Kiba swung her down from his back and set her down on her feet in front of him. Her eyes flew open and in that instant while she was swung around, she saw the other wolves running on ahead.

"What are you..."

"You're troubled." He interrupted her. Kagome shook her head.

"I'm fine. The car will leave-" She started, dreading spending this time alone with him. She knew it wouldn't be that hard to get her to open up.

"Tsume and Hige and Blue won't let it." He said soothingly. He drew her close once again but this time she struggled.

"Its not something I want to even think about." She said, trying to pull away from him. But he didn't let go. After a minute she gave up and just sank into him; she was no match for him strength-wise and she wasn't willing to hurt him either. So, chest heaving, she gave up.

Somehow, giving into him also meant giving into the tears she hadn't wanted to shed.

His shirt was soaked through. She noticed how wet her face was getting and she sniffled, trying to make her tears stop. They slowed some, but the couldn't be dammed up completely.

Not yet.

"Kagome..."

"I really don't want to do this." She said, her eyes glued to the wet stain on his white undershirt.

"Its bothering you." He lifted her chin so she was looking in his eyes. "It hurts you."

"No." She replied.

"Your guilty about something that wasn't your fault." He said intuitively.

"It WAS my fault!" She said. "If I had been stronger I could have saved them." She pounded his chest. "Don't you get it? If I hadn't been such a wimp they wouldn't have had to save me!" She sobbed. "They wouldn't have died saving me!" Suddenly, her body went limp, almost like liquid. Kiba found that he couldn't keep her upright. It was like she was boneless.

"Oh, Inuyasha." She sobbed, sliding to the ground. Since he couldn't hold onto her, Kiba went down with her. He ended up sitting and she ended up on his lap, silent sobs wracking her body. There were no tears left, only pain. He could feel it emanating off of her in waves. This was true pain, the pain of losing someone very close to your heart.

That's why, as a wolf, he tried to never let people too close. Even Cheza had not been in his heart. He had cared for her, but he kept something of himself back. Kagome had not done that. And now it was tearing her apart.

"Was this Inuyasha important to you?" He asked gently. She nodded against his leg.

"I l... loved him." She admitted.

Kiba felt jealousy stab through his heart. "How long were you lovers?" His voice was still gentle, even though the feelings inside of him weren't.

"You think..." She turned pink. "We were never like that." Her sobs had dissipated into little hiccups. "He was in love with someone else. And I never told him the truth."

Kiba couldn't keep a little anger from his voice. "You were comparing my kiss to his?" She could feel the tension go through his body.

"It's not like that!" She sat up. "It's not like that at all!"

He glared at her and she steeled herself to swallow her pride. "He never kissed me like that. He never kissed me at all." She was staring at the rapidly drying spot on his shirt again. He tipped her chin up.

"Never?" His eyes were gentle again.

"I told you. He loved... someone else." She tried to look down but he wouldn't have it. So she stared him straight in the eyes and let him see how much that had hurt her.

He smiled at her and brushed her hair behind her ear. "Maybe I can help you forget him." Kiba said, slowly closing in on her. She knew what he was going to do. She could see it in his eyes before he even said those last words. And for a moment, she wanted him to. Any other day she would have done something to stop him. But right now the comfort would be welcome.

So when he kissed her she kissed him back, almost desperately. It was her second real kiss ever. She melted into it.

It was Kiba who pulled back, surprised. "We should-" But she kissed him this time. When she flicked her tongue against his she felt parts of his anatomy get bigger and harder. And she knew what that meant. Despite being a virgin, and despite being pure of heart, she had not been exempt when Sexual Education had started in school.

It still embarrassed her though.

So this time she pulled back, blushing. His eyes were dark, glazed with passion. He was breathing as though he had run miles without stopping. Kagome was surprised to find her own breathing was rapid and uneven. She laid a hand on her chest, trying to control the fluttering within.

"We should, catch up to the others. They might get worried." She stood and he groaned.

"They could wait."

She blushed even harder. "Um, but I'm really hungry. So lets go." She held out a hand to him and though he took it, he never really used it to get up. He was still staring at her with an almost predatory look in his eye and it was making her nervous. She couldn't help but notice the bulge in the front of his pants. And no matter how hard she tried; she couldn't stop herself from glancing at it. She turned her back to him. It was a mistake.

His strong arms wrapped around her from behind and though he did nothing overtly sexy, she could feel him pressed against her butt. It was making her feel things she hadn't felt before.

"You want me." He said simply into her ear. "I can smell it."

Her blush had turned her whole face completely red now. "I, I, I... I can't. I'm not, I don't..." She stuttered. His arms tightened around her.

"It's all right. I'm willing to wait until you are." he said, and then finally released her. At first she found that she didn't want to move. It was Kiba who turned toward the direction of the car and started walking.

She followed.

END.

Please leave criticisms. Thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

_The full moon._

_A path of lunar flowers._

_Kiba could hear them singing as he ran. Or perhaps it was Cheza's song he heard. It was beautiful. He could feel it filling his spirit with hope, with determination, and with such strength! He grinned a toothy wolf grin as he ran._

_Chaos. His friends, his pack, bloody and still. He ran for Darcia's ship, sure it was the only way to stop this, to save Cheza. He darted left, right, and then was blown into the air for the third time._

_Excruciating pain._

_Despite the pain, he rose and attacked again._

_And was blown into the air again. It was getting harder and harder to regain his paws. His whole being shook with pain and exhaustion. And this time when he tried to rise, his body failed him._

_All he could hear was Cheza's sad song, her tears._

"_That is enough." She said, he voice low. She walked to him._

_Kiba somehow forced himself to his feet. "Don't go." He was shaking. Cheza dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms so gently around him. "Don't," he repeated._

"_It is alright." She said softly in his ear._

"_Don't go Cheza." He couldn't seem to express anything but those words. But then he finally did. "We're wolves, we're not afraid to die." He choked out._

"_This one knows that. It is alright. This one has decided. Kiba," She paused briefly. "This one will surely protect you." Her voice was getting distant._

_Kiba felt his strength leaving him. "Che-za," He started to say, but his legs stopped supporting him and he fell. His eyes were dark, and his body was one big ball of fire; hot pain. But he could still hear her. Her light footfalls were almost like thunder in his ears as she went to each of his pack and gently ran her hands over their bloody fur._

_His blood was so hot. The full moon was forcing his blood to run hot and his emotions to run high. He gathered himself for one last desperate effort. Taking strength from the moonlight on his fur, he got unsteadily to his paws and forced himself to take one step, and another, and another. They were getting easier now and the moonlight was spilling its bright light into his eyes. It wasn't even close to his usual speed, but he bared his teeth and continued._

_And now Cheza was running to him, and they were feet apart. The world seemed to be moving so slowly and yet he could not make himself move any faster. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw red and knew that Darcia would kill him this time for sure. But that was alright, if he could save Cheza, it would be alright. Then Cheza was leaping towards him, and there were crystal jewels flying from her eyes, so many tears._

_And the world sped up so quickly that it took a moment for his brain to catch up. He realized that he was once again blasted into the air, but there was little pain. _

_Cheza was whispering in his ear, her arms wrapped around him. "This one swore to protect you." And he knew she had protected him, saved his life. Taken his deathblow. _

"_This one loves you…" Her voice was fading. "Kiba."_

_And the ground was coming up to meet them, Cheza still wrapped around him, so even in death she would be protecting him. _

Kiba jumped up, growling. He growl stuttered and died when he realized he was not falling, and Cheza was not wrapped around him, breaking his fall enough to save him.

Cheza was dead.

"Kiba?"

Kagome's soft voice sounded worried. He gave her a gentle smile, smoothing his hand over her tousled, wavy black hair.

"I was dreaming." He lay back down next to her, staring into her beautiful blue eyes until sleep claimed him once more.

Kagome stayed awake for a while after his breath steadied and deepened.

"_Don't go."_

"_Cheza, don't go. We're wolves, we're not afraid to die."_

"_Che-za."_

Kagome pondered these words. They had awoken her out of a dead sleep. She had considered waking him but he had woken himself.

'He must have been dreaming of when Cheza died.' She thought.

She was still thinking of his haunted words when she finally drifted back into a deep, dream-filled sleep.

And she dreamt of Paradise.

Light streamed through the window of the abandoned warehouse in dusty, sparkling waves. Kagome watched them with a certain reverie. "I think we aught to talk." She finally said.

"A… palaver." Tsume said quietly.

Kagome nodded. "Right."

Kagome and Kiba had caught up with the others pretty quickly. They all piled into the truck and arrived at the city just after sunset. Cher and Hubb had taken what little money they had left and bought something edible for them to eat while the others had found this abandoned warehouse and holed up until they returned. Little had been said while they were waiting and even less before they slept.

Now it was morning and they had eaten the last of the food. No one looked ready to move and Kagome had been up early. And she had wondered. What could have brought all these people… wolves… together?

"So, I'd like to know, um, ya know, how you guys ended up together. I'm curious about your story." She blew her bangs out of her face. "I told you guys about me, now it's your turn." She ducked her head. "I mean, if you want to."

Hubb looked at Cher, who nodded. "Sure, but if its okay, I'd like to hear the wolves' tale first, no pun intended." This brought a few grins to their faces.

"I guess I'll start." Kiba said, almost grudgingly. And so he plunged into his story, starting with how he had came into that first city and met Tsume. He told of his run in with Quent and how Hige had helped him escape.

Then Toboe had a turn, telling of his meeting with Leera and how Tsume had saved him. He continued the tale up until their escape from the city.

Tsume took the story from there, backtracking just long enough to tell her of the humans he commanded and how he was outed by them. There was a pause where Kagome was sure there was something he wasn't telling them, but he continued the story instead.

And then Blue had a turn, explaining how she had met Kiba, Tsume and Toboe with Quent and helping to try and kill them.

Hige took the story from there, bringing it all the way to the point where Darcia had attacked. Then Blue hesitatingly told of running from her buyers and running into them just after they had lost Cheza.

Hige eagerly took over, telling Kagome about Blue dodging an old mans bullets and saving their lives with her adorable cuteness. Blue was blushing.

Tsume explained about the men coming after them for humiliating them and for being wolves. But the old man helped them avoid detection by pretending to have killed them. Jaguara couldn't use dead wolves.

And then they had started across the desert together, only to find a woman passed out on a rock.

"Which turned out to be you." Kiba said.

"Oh. Huh." She looked at Cher and Hubb.

Hubb started the story with Cher's research of Cheza at that same city, and then he told them about the 'big dog' that was brought in almost dead. He put his meeting with Quent into more eloquent words then the old man had himself, but left nothing out.

Cher picked it up with how the Flower Maiden had been taken by Darcia and continued all the way to when Darcia had captured her. Then about her escape and the trek across the desert to the small city where she had found Quent. Cher had then continued on, following the trail of the wolves.

Hubb came back into the story, telling them of his search for Cher, and how he had traveled with Quent for a short while before finally finding her. And so they had started to follow the wolves together after Quent went MIA. And then they had seen the wolves chasing the Second Beacon of the Wolves. The Keeper of the jewel Cher had read about in the Book of the Moon.

"The Book of the Moon?" Kagome interrupted.

"Yes," Cher paused. "It is a pagan book in which wolves are creations of god and humans are their slaves."

Kagome's eyes had an excited sheen. "Do you still have this book? Can I see it?" She was almost trembling. Cher took the book from Hubb and slowly handed it to her. Kagome took ahold of it but Cher had not let go. Their eyes met over the book for a moment and then Cher released the book into Kagome's care.

Kagome ran her fingertips over the cover. She had heard of this book in her own time, a pagan book that worshipped wolves. She opened it and started to read.

"I tell you now the words of red moon. From the Great Spirit was born the wolf and man became its messenger."

Kagome closed the Book of the Moon. She sat staring for quite a while before getting up.

"I think we have to go to Darcia's keep."

"Why?" Toboe asked.

"I think we need to talk to this Lord Darcia." She answered. She shivered.

"Ah, that's not the brightest idea." Hige said hesitatingly. "We're lucky we survived the last encounter we had with him." Hige laughed nervously.

"Is he really that horrible?" Blue asked. Silence greeted her question for many moments before Cher and Tsume replied at the same time.

"No." Cher muttered.

"Yes." Tsume said.

They looked at each other, startled.

"How can you say that monster isn't horrible?" Tsume demanded.

Cher was coloring up a bit. "I… he never hurt me. He could have, but he didn't. And when Jaguara's troops stormed his castle he released me." There was a small smile on Cher's face that Hubb didn't like.

"When was this?" Toboe asked her gently.

"During the last full moon." She answered without hesitation.

Kiba, Tsume, Hige and Toboe all exchanged a look.

"Cher, that's the night he attacked us. The night Cheza died." He said, not without a bit of sympathy.

Cher looked from face (muzzle) to face. "Say true?" They all nodded. "Then I guess it must have been that girl I saw in the castle who let me go."

Hubb didn't like this conversation at all. "So! Why again to we have to go and see the bloodthirsty, mean-spirited noble?"

"I think we need to find out more about this curse and about the noble Jaguara."

No one argued with Kagome. So they all went out to collect food and then piled into truck to continue their journey.

Three days later they could see Darcia's keep on the horizon, beckoning. At sunset of that day they were outside its broken gates. There was evidence of a hostile attack, recent signs.

They stared at it for a long moment before entering.

"This doesn't seem like a bright idea." Hubb said quietly.

"I agree with you, man." Hige said. "This place makes my fur stand on end." He gave a comic shiver.

"It stinks in here." Blue complained. They were through the broken front doors and were walking down the once grande hallways.

Kagome didn't hear them. An odd shivery feeling was climbing up her spine and spreading throughout her whole body. Something was definitely wrong here. Yet she never stopped, and when there were divergences in the hallways she took the right one without hesitation. The others fell silent and followed her.

Now and then they came upon metal heaps, Jaguara's soldiers. Tsume kicked one that was twitching and it stopped moving. They saw a door up ahead that was thrown wide open and there was no movement beyond. There was a broken, high pitched noise that almost could have been crying. They entered slowly.

Straight ahead of them was an odd bed with a naked, beautiful woman upon it. Odd wires connected to her and ran up to a metal contraption above her. Her long, green hair shielded much of her from. It twined all the way down to her ankles. Somehow they all knew she was dead. Next to this odd sight was an even odder one, Darcia. The odd noise they had heard before entering was coming from him. He was on his knees, his bloody face resting against the corner of wall just there. There was a hopeless, drowning expression- Wide open unseeing eyes, jaw unhinged and hanging.

A small woman with purple hair in dark clothing was trying to rouse him to their presence. She finally succeeded and Darcia turned to him, not bothering to change his expression. That was the scariest thing.

"Lord Darcia…" Kagome started to say.

"Silence- you!" And he peered closer at her as his eyes focused. "I can feel you. You are-" He rose abruptly. His eye was naked to them and Cher told Hubb not to look into his face.

Kagome was unaffected.

"Please, Lord Darcia. I am Kagome, the Guardian of the Jewel of Four Souls. I have questions…"

"I won't answer them." He said, a manic grin on his face. "You are the Second Beacon of the Wolves and I cannot use you, nor will I allow them to open paradise."

Kagome stared at him hard, that is, until Kiba's stare caught her eye. She looked to where he was looking and gasped.

A small girl _(You know who it is)_ was lying on the floor. Her- Cheza's hair was dull, her skin wilting. She lay dead not feet from Kagome, who had not noticed her right off. She gave off no life energy, and so Kagome's focus had gone to Darcia. No longer. She haltingly made her way to the fallen Flower Maiden and went to her knees. When she turned her over and looked into a young, pretty face. An unusual face. This girl felt so familiar to her in such an odd way that she hugged the lifeless body to her before setting it gently back to the floor. She kept her eyes averted as the wolves each went to Cheza. It was too painful to watch.

So she instead went to the woman lying dead on the bed. An odd song came into her head and she started to hum it, looking into the woman's beautiful, lifeless face.

"Don't do that." Darcia's voice was low and commanding. She ignored it. She wasn't sure why, but she felt the need to sing this woman to the next world. It seemed right.

"Don't do that." He repeated strongly. She heard running paws. Tears were running down her cheeks and she continued humming, heedless to both.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Darcia screamed. Kagome felt danger and turned just in time to see Darcia's sword coming down on her. Then suddenly Kiba was there, biting into Darcia's arm. Darcia threw him off and Kiba flew through the air and landed on his paws, sliding a foot or two. He charged Darcia again.

"Murderer!" Kiba yelled. Darcia's sword came down.

When they stood opposite each other again, there was a scratch down Darcia's cheek and on Kiba's muzzle.

They charged each other again.

Quent'd had no trouble following their trail to Darcia's keep. He knew the wolves were inside and he entered with the shooting fever in his blood. Not to mention the whiskey in his blood. Despite that, his eyesight was sharp and he walked down the hall, letting his instincts lead him.

Soon he didn't need instincts. He could hear fighting up ahead and that was enough to lead him.

Kiba was getting covered in his own blood. Darcia stood with one arm limp, blood running down his fingertips. They were breathing heavily. A gunshot forced both of their attention onto the shooter.

"I found you!" Quent called triumphantly from the hallway entrance. "And now you're dead!" He leveled his gun at Kiba. He was about to shoot when Blue appeared in his sights, in the way.

"Get out of the way, Blue! I'm going to kill the wolves that murdered our family! Move, Blue!" He screamed at her. She stood her ground. He swung his rifle to the next closest wolf, Tsume. Tsume sprang into action as shots rang off close to him.

Chaos reigned as Hubb and Cher ducked to avoid the bullets. The wolves were all running now, trying to avoid being shot. Blue was running straight for Quent and though he leveled his rifle at her, he hesitated. It was all the time Blue needed to jump onto his shoulders, knocking him down.

"Run!" She told the others. Kiba grabbed Kagome and all the wolves -plus Cher and Hubb- ran. Blue stayed long enough to swipe her tongue along Quent's cheek in apology before following them. Quent got up quickly.

The first and last thing he saw was Darcia's golden eye. He fell back down, out cold.

Blue glanced over her shoulder and saw this. "Pops!" She screamed and turned back.

"Blue!" Hige yelled after her, but she ignored him. He went after her. Blue went to Quent, lifting him up and placing an arm around her shoulders. Hige went to her and seeing the look on her face, helped her carry the old man out.

Darcia watched them go, not bothering to prevent their escape. It did not seem purposeful at this point.

Instead he went to his Beloved Homina. He shut her eyelids with a small, insane smile.

Then he picked her up from the bed, tearing the wires from the ceiling. He slowly marched her to the outside world.

Outside, the wolves plus Cher, Hubb and Kagome watched as Darcia climbed up and stood above them with Homina. They could see tears running down his cheeks. He began to swing her, round and round, looking down into her dead face.

Darcia looked down at his beloved, swearing to love her forever, swearing to find her in paradise.

"But first, I have a small piece of business to take care of, my love. I must find Jaguara and take vengeance on her for killing you." He spoke to her softly.

"I will kill her, Homina. And then I will use the Guardian to open paradise and we will be together once more."

A trail of dust followed the car as the group drove away quickly, never looking back at the madman perched above them.


End file.
